Southern California -- this just in

Perseid meteor shower: The sky's the limit

August 14, 2010 | 4:45
pm

The brilliant streaks of light above Mt. Pinos in Los Padres
National Forest late Thursday elicited "oohs" and "aahs" and applause
from the audience of stargazers.

The prediction that the Perseid meteor shower — August's annual show of shooting stars — would peak Thursday night and into early Friday lured about 200
people to Mt. Pinos, one of Southern California's more celebrated arenas for
social stargazing and amateur astronomy.

While casual viewers stretched out on reclining chairs and stared
skyward, more serious hobbyists organized a star party in the
middle of a large conifer-lined parking lot, two miles east of the
summit. Taking hours to set up what one onlooker described as "mortgage
grade" telescopes, this group was well-prepared for the summer's most
impressive celestial phenomenon.

Robert Provin, 62, of Bakersfield has been going to Mt. Pinos for 48
years. Mike Hatcher, 59, has been going since he was 17. For nearly
half a century the two have known each other as friends and former
members of the Polaris Observatory Assn., "but the only time we see
each other is at the Pinos parking lot," Provin said.